On a chilly spring morning, a kilted piper playing the bagpipes led diplomats into Harare's stone-walled Anglican Cathedral for a thanksgiving service in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. Sentiments in this southern African country after the death of the queen are mixed. Older Zimbabweans grew up in a country called Rhodesia -- a British colony created and named after Cecil Rhodes, an ardent imperialist. Souring tiesFor the first two decades after independence, relations between Britain and Zimbabwe were cordial, even warm. Wright Chirombe, a Harare resident, said "Queen Elizabeth II's main weakness was that she never raised her voice against human rights abuses," both under Mugabe and his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Source: News 24 September 17, 2022 00:22 UTC